Learn to Be Lonely
by jordie78
Summary: A one-shot songfic set during Anna's funeral. Centered around Frankenstein's creation.


Hello all! This is a simple, one-shot story written while my Finding Nemo work-in-progress is on hiatus due to writer's block. It's been on hiatus since March. I'll get to it eventually.

In the meantime, this fic is centered around the individual who, in my personal opinion, is the best character in the movie. Frankenstein's creation. D Sorry to all the Van Helsing, Dracula, and Carl fans. They don't really appear here.

Anyways, the song is _Learn to Be Lonely_, off of the new _Phantom of the Opera_ movie soundtrack. I still prefer the original soundtrack, but hey, who am I to complain? Besides, this song is beautiful.

Disclaimer: Wish I did, but I own nothing even remotely related to _Van Helsing_ or _The Phantom of the Opera_. Please don't sue.

Read, enjoy, and please review!!

* * *

_Child of the wilderness_

_Born into emptiness_

_Learn to be lonely_

_Learn to find your way in darkness_

A lone paddle stirred the dark waters of the Black Sea, sending small waves up onto the wooden raft where the late Dr. Victor Frankenstein's creation stood. The raft was roughly handmade, but solid, as was its occupant, who was steadfastly rowing away from the shore, and the two individuals illuminated on the cliff by the rising sun.

Frankenstein stopped paddling for a moment to study the two distant figures. The taller one, Van Helsing, was carefully, reverently, building a pyre. The other, the friar Carl, was standing nearby, head bowed. Both had invited Frankenstein to travel with them, but the offer had been respectfully declined.

He had no place with them.

_Who will be there for you?_

_Comfort and care for you?_

_Learn to be lonely_

_Learn to be your one companion_

He knew what the pyre was for. It was for Anna, who had not survived her last encounter with the supernatural. Frankenstein was grateful for Anna's sacrifice. She, Van Helsing, and Carl had come to Dracula's frozen castle to defeat the vampire himself and, in the process, they had rescued him. Saved his life, when it would have been infinitely easier just to kill him. Anna had been willing to do just that when they had first met. Her opinion of him had vastly changed since then, as her last words to him proved: a simple, heartfelt "thank you" for his intervention in her fight with the bride Aleera.

It was the first time anybody, besides Father, had ever shown him real gratitude.

Father was grateful because his Work was a success. But, more than that, Father cared. He cared whether Frankenstein, his son, lived or died. But Dracula had intervened, and had taken Father away.

This was another reason to set out alone. Those he cared about, and who cared about him, tended to be taken away. Father and Anna, for example. He did not wish to know if this trend would continue.

Frankenstein sighed and glanced back to face the pyre again, in time to watch it burst into flame. The man that most people deemed a monster bowed his head, and gave a silent prayer for the young woman, to bid her farewell, and for his former companions, to wish them well wherever they were headed next.

_Never dreamed, out in the world,_

_There are arms to hold you_

_You've always known_

_Your heart was on its own_

Carefully, Frankenstein turned back to the horizon, once again dipping the paddle into the sea with strong, steady strokes. He had no destination in mind. No matter where he went, he would always be met with fear and absolute revulsion; the villagers in Transylvania had proven that much. Even something as simple as trusting another had so far been a haphazard venture at best. He'd trusted Van Helsing, however hesitantly, and the man had darted him at the first offer to trade him for the princess Anna.

In retrospect, Frankenstein supposed that he shouldn't have assumed that Van Helsing would actually turn him over to Dracula, but the dart gun had not been necessary, and the fact that Van Helsing used it on him without a second thought had been enough to convince him of complete betrayal.

He had no place with them, or anyone else.

_So laugh in your loneliness_

_Child of the wilderness_

_Learn to be lonely_

_Learn how to love life that is lived alone_

In the short time since Father had given him life, he had been hunted, toyed with, driven into isolation, and tortured, both physically and mentally. He had the chance now to return to a peaceful, full life, and he was determined to live it well.

It was the best way that he could honor his Father's gift.

_Learn to be lonely_

_Life can be lived_

_Life can be loved alone_


End file.
